I've been anxious to determine whether or not any of the eggs were viable because I'd taken the hen, on her eggs, in a huge flight cage full of budgies, an hour and a half drive to bring them home the day I'd purchased them. Despite attempting to avoid every bump in the road, I felt like I hit them instead. I've worried about her and her eggs for a little over a week and was certain I'd perish if I didn't find out whether they'd survived the trip or not.
Like I said, I'd read up on this procedure but had never seen it done, so I was going in blind you might say. I grabbed the one flashlight I could find at the time and went and opened the cage door. I pulled the nest box over so I could easily see inside, opened the top, looked in, and immediately got scared. Those eggs are so teensy! I've held chicken eggs before - thousands of times, maybe even millions - but those budgie eggs looked so fragile they might break if I exhaled on them too hard. I stopped and thought about what I was doing and realized that if I was going to look at the eggs, I would have to pick them up. So with the caution and gentle touch one might use when handling nitroglycerine, I picked up one of those eggs and cradled it gently in the palm of my hand. Without taking my eyes off the egg (I was afraid I might move and make it explode ... or worse!), I slowly reached out for the flashlight I'd brought with me and turned it on. When I moved the flashlight close to the egg as I'd seen described in the material I'd read, I was amazed at what I saw! Absolutely nothing. Just a red glow. Oh MAN! Seriously? That's it? Maybe I was doing something wrong. I moved the flashlight around to get a better angle; I held it between my fingers so only a slit of light shined through; I crossed my legs and balanced on my left foot; I moved the flashlight while holding it between my teeth and crossed my legs while balancing on my left foot all at the same time.... and finally I saw it! An AIR SAC! YESSSS!!! I tilted my head just a bit to the right and was able to see some little blood vessels as well. Between the air sac and the blood vessels, I felt confident that the egg I was holding was fertile. Success!
Knowing that there's a time limit as to how long an egg can be out of the nest, I hurried to return it to the warmth of its mom. I looked at the other four eggs in the nest and decided that I'd wait for another day to determine their viability. The stress from one was quite enough for today.
Like I said, I'd read up on this procedure but had never seen it done, so I was going in blind you might say. I grabbed the one flashlight I could find at the time and went and opened the cage door. I pulled the nest box over so I could easily see inside, opened the top, looked in, and immediately got scared. Those eggs are so teensy! I've held chicken eggs before - thousands of times, maybe even millions - but those budgie eggs looked so fragile they might break if I exhaled on them too hard. I stopped and thought about what I was doing and realized that if I was going to look at the eggs, I would have to pick them up. So with the caution and gentle touch one might use when handling nitroglycerine, I picked up one of those eggs and cradled it gently in the palm of my hand. Without taking my eyes off the egg (I was afraid I might move and make it explode ... or worse!), I slowly reached out for the flashlight I'd brought with me and turned it on. When I moved the flashlight close to the egg as I'd seen described in the material I'd read, I was amazed at what I saw! Absolutely nothing. Just a red glow. Oh MAN! Seriously? That's it? Maybe I was doing something wrong. I moved the flashlight around to get a better angle; I held it between my fingers so only a slit of light shined through; I crossed my legs and balanced on my left foot; I moved the flashlight while holding it between my teeth and crossed my legs while balancing on my left foot all at the same time.... and finally I saw it! An AIR SAC! YESSSS!!! I tilted my head just a bit to the right and was able to see some little blood vessels as well. Between the air sac and the blood vessels, I felt confident that the egg I was holding was fertile. Success!
Knowing that there's a time limit as to how long an egg can be out of the nest, I hurried to return it to the warmth of its mom. I looked at the other four eggs in the nest and decided that I'd wait for another day to determine their viability. The stress from one was quite enough for today.
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